Plan Your Trip Outdoors - Eastern USA - page 77

» Cocoa Beach and Melbourne Beach, FL Small crowds and mellow waves make it a
paradise for beginners and longboarders. Just south is the Inlet, known for consistent surf
and crowds to match.
» Long Island, NY More than a dozen surfing areas dot the area, from Montauk's oft-
packed Ditch Plains to Nassau County's Long Beach, with its 3-mile stretch of curling
waves.
» Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA Part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this
family-friendly beach is known for its consistent shortboard/longboard swell all summer
long.
Resources
Surfer ( www.surfermag.com ) Has travel reports covering the Eastern seaboard and just
about every break in the USA.
Diving
Florida has the lion's share of great diving, with more than 1000 miles of coastline subdi-
vided into 20 unique undersea areas. There are hundreds of sites and countless dive
shops offering equipment and guided excursions. South of West Palm Beach, you'll find
clear waters and fantastic year-round diving with ample reefs. In the Panhandle you can
scuba in the calm and balmy waters of the Gulf of Mexico, off Pensacola and Destin are
fabulous wreck dives, and you can dive with manatees near Crystal River.
The Florida Keys are the crown jewel. Expect a brilliant mix of marine habitats, North
America's only living coral garden and the occasional shipwreck. Key Largo is home to
the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and more than 200 miles of underwater idyll.
The expansive reefs around Dry Tortugas National Park swarm with barracuda, sea
turtles and a couple of hundred sunken ships.
Other popular places to submerge in the eastern waters include North Carolina's Cape
Hatteras National Seashore, where you can explore Civil War wrecks and encounter tiger
sand sharks, and Lake Ouachita, Arkansas' largest lake, known for its pristine mountain
waters and 16-mile water-based trail.
Resources
Scuba Diving ( www.scubadiving.com ) Provides the latest on diving destinations in the
US and abroad.